Rizzuto Scoots

Into Hall Of Fame

Durocher Also Tabbed By Veterans

Phil Rizzuto, the reknowned Yankee "scooter" and team's shortstop from 1941 to 1956, was finally voted into the Hall of Fame Friday by the Veterans Committee.

"I never felt I belonged in the baseball community," said the 76-year-old Rizzuto, who has been affiliated with the Yankees for 53 years, the past 37 as a broadcaster. "Today, I really do feel I belong. This was the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Now, I'll have that HOF in front of my name and on that ring like the one [broadcast partner Tom) Seaver is always hitting me over the head with."

Rizzuto's wait for recognition had been a long one. He was passed over by the Baseball Writers Association of America from 1962 to 1976, and he had been snubbed by the Veterans Committee since 1982.

In addition to Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, who died in 1991 at 86, was also elected. Durocher's baseball career spanned 40 years as a player, manager and coach. He managed Dodgers, Giants, Astros and Cubs. As manager of the Giants, he won the 1954 World Series and lost in 1951. He also lost in 1941 with the Dodgers. He won 2,010 games, sixth on the all-time list, and had a lifetime batting average of .247.

Rizzuto said Durocher, best known as "The Lip'', was "the best bench jockey I ever knew. He would find out one thing about you, and he wouldn't let you forget it.

"He told his attorney that if he was elected to the Hall of Fame after he died, he didn't want anybody to accept his plaque. I hope it doesn't turn out that way."

The campaign to get Rizzuto in the Hall of Fame had been long and hard. He was particularly hurt in 1984 when Pee Wee Reese of the Dodgers was chosen. Ironically, Reese was on the committee that elected Rizzuto.

Rizzuto, who had a lifetime batting average of .273 and hit .246 in nine World Series, received the news from Yogi Berra.

"Holy Cow! I almost fell on the floor when he told me," Rizzuto said, "and it was an honest `Holy Cow!' I thought Yogi was kidding."

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who had been very outspoken about Rizzuto not being elected in the past, was ecstatic about the choice.

"Thank God!" Steinbrenner said. "We are particularly happy for Phil and Cora, two of the world's nicest people," Steinbrenner said. "I congratulate the Cooperstown Hall of Fame and the Veterans Committee."

Whitey Ford, a Rizzuto teammate and member of the Hall of Fame, was also elated.

"It's such a great thing to have happen," said Ford, an instructor in the Yankee camp. "He was such a big part of the dynasty we had back then."

It was apparent Rizzuto was overwhelmed by the his election. When asked what he would like to have printed on his plaque at Cooperstown, he said, "I'm willing to be batboy and waterboy."He paused, "it really doesn't matter."